McLaren confirms Speedtail name for three-seat ‘hyper GT’

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The name for McLaren’s secretive BP23 three-seater “hyper GT” has been confirmed in the run-up to its release later this year.

The British carmaker has dubbed the new model Speedtail, a name that the company says is “evocative of a peak speed higher than any McLaren yet and flowing, highly streamlined design”.

The Speedtail is considered the spiritual successor to the Gordon Murray-designed McLaren F1 hypercar from 1993, which set a production car speed record of 240.1mph five years later.

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Like the F1, the Speedtail incorporates a three-seater cabin, where the driver sits in the centre and is flanked by two passengers. The obscure layout aims to give the driver a seating position akin to a single-seater racing car.

McLaren is building the hypercar with speed in mind, amid hopes that it will smash the record set by its predecessor, says Auto Express.

The carmaker is offering few other details about the Speedtail, releasing just of handful of sketches previewing the design, but it is expected to be powered by a hybrid version of the company’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 found in the new Senna hypercar, the magazine says.

One thing that has been confirmed is that the new model will be extremely limited. Only 106 examples will be made - matching the production run of the F1 - and they have already been sold for “£1.6m plus tax”, reports Top Gear.

The motoring site says fans can expect to get their first glimpse of the Speedtail “before the close of 2018”.